Gots myself an interview tomorrow for a temp job. Pays between $15-$17. The plan - get a job like this for now until I can find one that pays substantially more. Or until I come up with that great business plan.
Of course, this job won't cover all the bills, but if I can start it soon then I can use savings as a supplement for a few months...
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
What about apartments?
In scouring the net for tips on saving money I have found that a lot of them do not apply to people that live in apartments.
- I can't grow a garden.
- I can't buy tons of food to freeze in a stand alone freezer cause I don't have one or have space for one.
- I can't do anything about getting windows/doors that don't let in as much air.
- I can't install a second thermostat to control the temp upstairs.
Starting out all wrong
So, I just had this epiphany which led to the quest yet the timing is rather wrong. See, I just moved out of state and am presently unemployed. I can't say I'm jonesing to get another job either. I should be. I mean, it will be my first job with the MBA, so it should pay rather well. Still, I do not look forward to it. The job I left was at the North American Headquarters of Nissan where I worked as a Fixed Asset Accountant. Talk about mind-numbing! It was horrible! The pay was good for the city I was in, at least for me that is. They had some people from their Indian office there and I once heard my boss talking about their salary...their pay was $3.75/hr...and they were all CPAs in India! What an atrocity. Jobs tasks aside, Nissan was pretty shitty in general. They have this employee campaign called 'ValueUp' and it's all about halping to save the company money and one of the points it Frgal, where they actually have printed on posters " Frugal - not cheap" and this was actually said at an all-employee meeting. Yet, no one in my department had real trashcans, instead there were copy paper boxes with a liner in it -- that was changed out once a week! I hate to tell them, but this is the very definition of cheap. Cheap bastards.
Well, cheap bastards aside, I hate accounting. That's why I don't want to job hunt. See, I know that I will end up in another accounting job for several reasons. They always seem to pay the best. It's where most of my experience is.
Not only are accounting jobs super lame, boring and tedious, but I don't like handling other people's money.
So, that's why I need to find an alternative. I'm smart, I have an MBA, I can be an entrepreneur! I have a little money saved up and I just got my tax return refund. Now all I need is a business idea with low startup costs and huge revenue potential. Or maybe a bunch of ideas with small revenue potential that can equal big revenue all together. Until that happens, there's always Google Adsense. I found a blog where a girl is trying to make money online and she has made some AdSense money. Not a lot, but some is better than none. So, if you're reading this - click away on the AdSense links! please :)
Well, cheap bastards aside, I hate accounting. That's why I don't want to job hunt. See, I know that I will end up in another accounting job for several reasons. They always seem to pay the best. It's where most of my experience is.
Not only are accounting jobs super lame, boring and tedious, but I don't like handling other people's money.
So, that's why I need to find an alternative. I'm smart, I have an MBA, I can be an entrepreneur! I have a little money saved up and I just got my tax return refund. Now all I need is a business idea with low startup costs and huge revenue potential. Or maybe a bunch of ideas with small revenue potential that can equal big revenue all together. Until that happens, there's always Google Adsense. I found a blog where a girl is trying to make money online and she has made some AdSense money. Not a lot, but some is better than none. So, if you're reading this - click away on the AdSense links! please :)
Money saving tips
Taken from a post on MyLot, my comments in blue
Money Saving Tips # 1
The key to saving, or spending less, is to know what triggers impulse buying. Keep accurate spending records and list all outgoings to be paid, i.e. mortgage, phone etc, food, books, entertainment and so on. Keep this record for a few months initially as this will allow you to see where you are spending your money and give you an idea of those things you can change. You might find that after a couple of months it has become a good habit to keep these records, so you can track where your money goes. It will only work if you include everything spent, irrespective of what you spent the money on.
UTILITIES:
Heating in winter. Turn down the heat and wearing slippers or socks and a sweater. This way you will be just as warm but more importantly you will save a lot of money as your heating bill will be a lot less. I keep my heat on 68, but my gas bill is still outrageous. Yes, I can pile on more clothes, but what about the cold nose? I have found that wearing a hat keeps me warmer.
Turn off lights etc when you aren’t in the room, turn off or down the heat in areas of the house that you aren’t in during the day/night. Install energy efficient light globes as the old ones go, replace them with these. Although a little more expensive initially, they last a lot longer plus use less power. I saw a difference in my electric bill when I stopped leaving my computer on all day long.
If your saucepans/pots have a heavy base, turn the heat off just before the meal is cooked as the retained heat will finish the cooking process and you will save some money on power bills.
SHOPPING:
Plan your meals, so you can buy everything you need in the one trip. Try to do all your shopping in one trip instead of running out a few times a week to pick up this and that, because in the end you will spend a lot more. I agree with this - I'[m a big impulse buyer and more trips to the store means more impulse buys.
Another good way to save money is to make lists, i.e. grocery and shopping lists. This helps stop impulse buying and saves on fuel if you can get everything done in one day. Make your grocery lists from the local store advertisements and check to make sure you have coupons for items on sale and anything else on your list. This way you don't forget and leave the coupons at home. It's hard to not deviate from the list, but this is an effective way of saving money. It's also good to plan your meals around what is onsale at the store.
Eat before going shopping, so you will not impulse buy just because you are hungry. This is a big one. When I go to the store hungry I buy tons of stuff as it all looks good to me.
Take your lunch to work instead of buying. If you spend $5 on lunch dining out, that's $25/week not counting sodas/snacks throughout the day. Where as a pack of lunch meat is $3 and a loaf of bread is $2.
With staple foods like toothpaste, hand soap, shampoo, non perishable foods you use often etc look into buying in bulk and where possible use coupons! However, don’t buy something you don’t need just because you have a coupon. I think you usually come out better with coupons.
If there is a “glut” of food items that you use regularly and the price is good plus the budget will extend, buy extra and freeze. This will save you buying these items when they are at normal price or out of season.
Bread, milk, yoghurt and many other things will all keep well in the freezer and taste fresh when you take them out to use, so again if they are on special or cheap get a little more to freeze for a later date.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Instead of having a night out, have a night in and invite your friends around. Hire a DVD to watch, play cards and you can take in it turns to go to each other’s house for a night. This way you will still enjoy the company of your friends plus you will all save some money. A movie theater near me plays second-run movies for $0.50 one day a week so that's when I try to go out. Normal prices there are only $2.50, as opposed to $8.75 at the first-run cinema. I only go to the second-run one. I also watch Blockbuster for their used DVD sales. When they are having a 4 for $20 sale I load up, watch the movies and then sell them on Amazon Marketplace. I usually end up selling a few for more than I paid for them and always come out ahead in the long run.
If you have Pay/Cable Television with movie channels, consider how often you watch the movies, because you might find it works out cheaper to hire a DVD when you want a certain movie rather than paying for ones that you never watch.
Original post here.
Money Saving Tips # 1
The key to saving, or spending less, is to know what triggers impulse buying. Keep accurate spending records and list all outgoings to be paid, i.e. mortgage, phone etc, food, books, entertainment and so on. Keep this record for a few months initially as this will allow you to see where you are spending your money and give you an idea of those things you can change. You might find that after a couple of months it has become a good habit to keep these records, so you can track where your money goes. It will only work if you include everything spent, irrespective of what you spent the money on.
UTILITIES:
Heating in winter. Turn down the heat and wearing slippers or socks and a sweater. This way you will be just as warm but more importantly you will save a lot of money as your heating bill will be a lot less. I keep my heat on 68, but my gas bill is still outrageous. Yes, I can pile on more clothes, but what about the cold nose? I have found that wearing a hat keeps me warmer.
Turn off lights etc when you aren’t in the room, turn off or down the heat in areas of the house that you aren’t in during the day/night. Install energy efficient light globes as the old ones go, replace them with these. Although a little more expensive initially, they last a lot longer plus use less power. I saw a difference in my electric bill when I stopped leaving my computer on all day long.
If your saucepans/pots have a heavy base, turn the heat off just before the meal is cooked as the retained heat will finish the cooking process and you will save some money on power bills.
SHOPPING:
Plan your meals, so you can buy everything you need in the one trip. Try to do all your shopping in one trip instead of running out a few times a week to pick up this and that, because in the end you will spend a lot more. I agree with this - I'[m a big impulse buyer and more trips to the store means more impulse buys.
Another good way to save money is to make lists, i.e. grocery and shopping lists. This helps stop impulse buying and saves on fuel if you can get everything done in one day. Make your grocery lists from the local store advertisements and check to make sure you have coupons for items on sale and anything else on your list. This way you don't forget and leave the coupons at home. It's hard to not deviate from the list, but this is an effective way of saving money. It's also good to plan your meals around what is onsale at the store.
Eat before going shopping, so you will not impulse buy just because you are hungry. This is a big one. When I go to the store hungry I buy tons of stuff as it all looks good to me.
Take your lunch to work instead of buying. If you spend $5 on lunch dining out, that's $25/week not counting sodas/snacks throughout the day. Where as a pack of lunch meat is $3 and a loaf of bread is $2.
With staple foods like toothpaste, hand soap, shampoo, non perishable foods you use often etc look into buying in bulk and where possible use coupons! However, don’t buy something you don’t need just because you have a coupon. I think you usually come out better with coupons.
If there is a “glut” of food items that you use regularly and the price is good plus the budget will extend, buy extra and freeze. This will save you buying these items when they are at normal price or out of season.
Bread, milk, yoghurt and many other things will all keep well in the freezer and taste fresh when you take them out to use, so again if they are on special or cheap get a little more to freeze for a later date.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Instead of having a night out, have a night in and invite your friends around. Hire a DVD to watch, play cards and you can take in it turns to go to each other’s house for a night. This way you will still enjoy the company of your friends plus you will all save some money. A movie theater near me plays second-run movies for $0.50 one day a week so that's when I try to go out. Normal prices there are only $2.50, as opposed to $8.75 at the first-run cinema. I only go to the second-run one. I also watch Blockbuster for their used DVD sales. When they are having a 4 for $20 sale I load up, watch the movies and then sell them on Amazon Marketplace. I usually end up selling a few for more than I paid for them and always come out ahead in the long run.
If you have Pay/Cable Television with movie channels, consider how often you watch the movies, because you might find it works out cheaper to hire a DVD when you want a certain movie rather than paying for ones that you never watch.
Original post here.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
How to cut down on spending
Without even looking at my finances I already know that I spend too much money. Specifically, I spend more that I make because I use credit cards for a lot of purchases. That's something that I need to stop doing. In thinking about this, I am wondering how I can cut back on expenses. Loads of articles tell you "easy" ways to save money, which translates as suffering and ludicrous. You will read things like:
- don't go to Starbucks every morning
- don't dine out
- don't have cable tv/internet
- try to do without a vehicle
- unplug everything when it is not in use
- and so on the insanity goes....
Now, it doesn't take a genius to know that drinking a $4 latte daily is a rather expensive habit. It's also rather silly to tell someone that wants to save to punish themselves with no cable/internet/meals out. It's not practical to tell the general population to do without a vehicle. If you're in a city with adequate public transportation, then yes, this point is valid for you, but if you live in Bumfuck, Iowa where there aren't even sidewalks then you might, just might, need a car. And unplugging everything, who has the time man? And how much can that *really* save you? I have my own ideas on how to cut costs.
- Order water when dining out (soda/tea is $2.19 at Max & Erma's restaurant!)
- Go to grocery store regularly - a stocked pantry means less need to dine out
- Get on a regular workout schedule at the gym- working out means feeling better emotionally, thus less emotional dining out. Plus I get a free gym membership through my apartment complex.
On MSN there is a pretty good article on saving using the 60% principle. According to the article, you can really revvvvv up your saving by trying to live off 60% of your income. As someone used to living paycheck-to-paycheck, I can't imagine how this is possible, but I think I shall try it. Once I get another job that is. To utilize the 60% principle you need to figure out what your committed expenses are. The author of the articles lists his as:
- Basic food and clothing needs.
Essential household expenses.
Insurance premiums.
Charitable contributions.
All of our bills -- even such non-essentials as our satellite TV service.
ALL of our taxes.
So, then he suggests taking the leftover 40% of income and dividing it bewteen the following categories:
- retirement savings
- long-term savings (aka emergency fund)
- short-term savings (to be used throught the year for vacations, etc.)
- Fun money (monthly 'mad money')
On the author's behalf it is mentioned that this goal might be a bit lofty for most people due to large credit card payments that must be made. It is suggested that using the 20% that would otherwise go to retirement and long-term saving to aggressively pay down debt. Then you can jump up to living off 60% of the income. Suppose you just can't seem to cut this program? Then it might be time to face some facts. You've made some stupid money decisions in the past (yes I have - I'm talkin to you, brand new car in 2005). Could this be you?
- You have a more expensive home than you can afford.
- You've committed to car or boat payments that are larger than you can afford.
- Your children are in a private school that you can't really afford.
- There's just a big, ugly gap between your income and your lifestyle.
So yes, I have a car that I bought new in 2005 that I really don't need. Monthly payment = $351. Ouch. Current payoff is around $12,000 - $13,000 with interest rate of 10%. Worth of car is around $9,000 - $10,000. Negative equity, what a dirty, dirty thing. Ah, now if I could just perfect time travel to go back and stop myself from that one. Now, I'd love to be able to save up enough to cover the negative equity, find someone to buy it for what it's worth with me paying the negative equity difference and then pay cash for a $4,000-$6,000 car. That right there would free up $351/month. Ah, lessons learned.
Note to self: see what monthly committed expenses are, then find job where I can live on 60% of my income.
Wow, this make me feel like schmuck
So, as I spend my time trying to think of how I can make $500,000 as soon as I can I come across this story. I can't imagine living on $6.50/hr like the woman in the story. I'm trying to remember the last time I got paid that little....it would have to be over 10 years ago. When I was in high school I worked at a restaurant as a hostess and made $6.75/hr. When I got my first apartment a few years later I was making over $8/hr. Of course, those were the Clinton years and I was working retail making that much. I suspect that if I went out today for the same job it would pay considerably less.
In reading this article, I noticed that this woman only had one job, until her recent foray into pet sitting. I've considered the possibility of getting two jobs. The stress would be horrible, as would the lack of an actual life, but it would have me making more cash, thus getting to my goal quicker. Of course, I'd really like to be my own boss. You know, have a great business idea that would allow me to make lots of cash on my own...and quickly!
In reading this article, I noticed that this woman only had one job, until her recent foray into pet sitting. I've considered the possibility of getting two jobs. The stress would be horrible, as would the lack of an actual life, but it would have me making more cash, thus getting to my goal quicker. Of course, I'd really like to be my own boss. You know, have a great business idea that would allow me to make lots of cash on my own...and quickly!
Monday, February 26, 2007
How to make a million?
I've been perusing the site at Entreprenuer.com and came across a section devoted to young milionaires. I really wish they would distinguish the ones that started with little money from those that used venture capital funding. I mean, really, aren't the ones that started with small amounts of cash much more interesting and impressive?
Here's hoping the stories of the young millionaires gives me some inspiration.
Here's hoping the stories of the young millionaires gives me some inspiration.
Forward my mail to Europe please
It's rather unfortunate that moving to Europe isn't as simple as moving across the U.S. I lived in several states on both coasts here in the U.S. I'd have no problem just selling everything and moving.
So, my options are:
So, my options are:
- to marry someone from whatever country I want to move to (not gonna happen)
- take a skills test to go over as a skilled worker (i can get a crappy job here!)
- start a business in whatever country I want to move to, which of course means i have to have $$ to run the business and (in most countries) be able to hire at least 2 people that are citizens of that country to work at said business
- have enough money that it can, in essense, buy your citizenship. only 500,000 euros in Greece! that's only what, about $650,000 given the current atrocious exchange rate.
So, the plan is to get net worth of $500,000 so the move can happen sooner rather than later.
Quest goals for March
Here's a list of the things I hope to accomplish in March, in no particular order:
- Find a job for now so that I will have some money coming in
- Come up with some business ideas
- Have at least one business idea that I can work on
- Make some money online via things like AdSense
- Sell stuff I don't need on eBay
- Stop buying stuff I don't need
- Minimize dining out and only order water to drink when I do
- Try to pay off at least one credit card
- See how much money I need to make to live each month
Selling stuff on eBay will be no problem as I have stuff I need to get rid of. Finding a job for now shouldn't be too difficult. It probably won't be an MBA job but just a crappy $15/hr type of job, but that will suffice....for now. However, having to take a job to pay bills will reduce the amount of time I can spend working on the quest. Rock, meet hard place. I should also mention that I do not live alone, so I'll be supporting two people. My other half is a writer and could conceivably make some cash but no guarantees there. Yes, yes, I know she could get a job, but I promised her I would give her a year to focus on her writing because if she can sell something the quest will get to play giant leap frog on the cash front. She also shot an independent film last year that she is editing now and good things could come from that. But for now, no cash from that avenue, just from me.
Next step - figuring out how much I owe, and how much I have to pay out for living expenses, etc. each month.
Getting started
Enough is enough. That's what it has come down to.
I dream of sipping Sangria on the coast of Spain. Reality is quite far from that. I just recently completed my studies for my MBA. I'm not sure why, as I hate business. A few years ago I ended up in an accounting job, where the money is schweet and that's where I've been ever since. My undergrad is a useless degree in English & Journalism, with a minor in Poli Sci. Those jobs don't pay the bills. The plan was to get my MBA, get a high paying/mind-numbing job that would allow my to make lots of money to save to be able to move overseas. I ran the numbers last week to see how much I would have to save a month to get to $500,000, which is my magic number for being able to move. I have an ING account that pays about 5% interest. The interest compunds daily and it took me a while to find an online calculator that would compound daily. Finally I found an online compound savings calulator here.
Considering the $1000 emergency money that I have in there now, I would have to save about $7250 a month for 5 years to meet the magic number in my hopeful scenario of 5 years. Now, that is $87,000 a year...that would have to be after taxes...and it doesn't leave room for monthly expenses and things like, oh, eating! This little realization put me into drastic action mode. I need a plan and I need it fast!
I dream of sipping Sangria on the coast of Spain. Reality is quite far from that. I just recently completed my studies for my MBA. I'm not sure why, as I hate business. A few years ago I ended up in an accounting job, where the money is schweet and that's where I've been ever since. My undergrad is a useless degree in English & Journalism, with a minor in Poli Sci. Those jobs don't pay the bills. The plan was to get my MBA, get a high paying/mind-numbing job that would allow my to make lots of money to save to be able to move overseas. I ran the numbers last week to see how much I would have to save a month to get to $500,000, which is my magic number for being able to move. I have an ING account that pays about 5% interest. The interest compunds daily and it took me a while to find an online calculator that would compound daily. Finally I found an online compound savings calulator here.
Considering the $1000 emergency money that I have in there now, I would have to save about $7250 a month for 5 years to meet the magic number in my hopeful scenario of 5 years. Now, that is $87,000 a year...that would have to be after taxes...and it doesn't leave room for monthly expenses and things like, oh, eating! This little realization put me into drastic action mode. I need a plan and I need it fast!
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